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Pacific West Conference

The Pacific West Conference, with roots extending back to 1981, reached phase three in 1998 in its quest to bring together some of the most successful and well respected athletic programs in the West. The Pacific West Conference was initially formed by a merger of the Great Northwest and Continental Divide Conferences in May of 1992.

Membership

The 1999&endash;2000 PacWest Conference will have some slight changes from last year. Lewis-Clark State dropped out of the conference but was replaced by Seattle University and Northwest Nazarene who will become full members next year. Returning members are: Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska-Fairbanks, Chaminade, Hawaii-Hilo, Montana State-Billings, Seattle Pacific, Western New Mexico, Brigham Young-Hawaii, Central Washington, Hawaii Pacific, Humboldt State, St. Martin's, Simon Fraser, Western Washington and Western Oregon.

Four of the PacWest members date back to the formative days of the Great Northwest Conference (GNC), which began in 1981. The GNC began as a scheduling conference for men's basketball in 1981&endash;82 and was formalized the following year. The six charter members were Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska-Fairbanks, Eastern Montana (now Montana State-Billings), Eastern Washington, Puget Sound and Seattle Pacific.

Also in 1982, the Continental Divide Conference (CDC) was taking its first steps. The eight-team alliance sponsored championships in women's basketball and volleyball. The charter members included Air Force, Alaska-Anchorage, Alaska-Fairbanks, Denver, Eastern Montana, Metro State, Northern Colorado and Regis.

1991 Merger

The subject of the merger between the GNC and CDC was first addressed in 1990. The advent of the Colorado Athletic Conference prompted the resignation of four Colorado schools from the CDC and Metro State from the GNC, leaving four and five schools, respectively. Coincidentally, new NCAA legislation and growing interest on the part of some Division II independents accelerated talks between the two conferences. In the meantime, Grand Canyon (1990) and Chaminade (1991) joined the GNC. Seattle Pacific discontinued its dual affiliation with the NAIA and, along with Portland State, was added to the CDC for 1991&endash;92. The merger was approved unanimously by the GNC and CDC memberships at a 1992 joint meeting in Seattle. Since then Hawaii-Hilo (1993) and Western New Mexico (1994) have joined. Grand Canyon re-affiliated with the California Collegiate Athletic association in 1994, and Portland State opted for Division I and the Big Sky Conference in 1996.

1997 Merger

In 1997 the current schools agreed to combine forces to become one of the largest conferences in the West.

Accomplishments

The PacWest is truly a unique conference, its members covering four time zones. It has also proven to be a most competitive coalition. This past season the conference brought home three national championships in NCAA Division II play. BYU-Hawaii won the women's tennis title, Hawaii Pacific claimed the women's volleyball crown, and Humboldt State took the women's softball championship. In men's basketball the PacWest/GNC is a respectable 22-22 in NCAA tournament games. Alaska-Anchorage achieved the highest-ever finish, taking second nationally in 1988. Portland State made an immediate impact in women's basketball, going far beyond its predecessors in the 1992 NCAA Championships by reaching the title game. The Vikings were again national runners-up in 1995. In volleyball the PacWest/CDC has sent at least one representative to the NCAA tournament in 12 of the last 16 years. The best NCAA finish in cross country was eighth place by the Portland State men in 1994 and eighth by the Seattle Pacific women in 1996.

 

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